Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Le Pain d'épices

When I am on a diet, I can go for days without eating chocolate, for weeks without eating pasta and for months without buying ice cream. But there are two things that I can't spend a single day without: My breakfast; which I take with cereals or tartines and a bowl of milk, and my afternoon snack; with a slice of cake or cookies and a cup of mint tea or milk. I was raised that way. My mother always told us that a nourishing and well balanced breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But for the afternoon snack, it's a different story. It is more like a family ritual than a biological need to fuel my body. As far as I can remember, we always had tea or coffee with some kind of pastry after coming back from school. We usually wait until everyone gets home to gather around a hot mint tea and some fresh baked sweets. If for some reason one day, there was no tea and no sweets on the table, we would feel lost. My mother and I share the same feeling about this particular meal: I think it is more about the family getting together than the snack itself.When I think about those baked sweets, four of them come to my mind: Beignets, Yoghurt Cake, Torno (kind of sablé with icing on top) and Pain d'épices...Ahh Pain d'épices, the whole house smells like the Islands when my mother makes this fragrant cake. Pain d'épices, which translates "bread of spices" is a french cake whose ingredients contain honey and many spices.I made this cake many times but had never been satisfied with the result. It was too dry, not fragrant enough... in a word nothing like how Pain d'épice should be. Last week, while browsing my friend's blog, I came across a recent post she had about pain d'épices; or what was supposed to be Nonette (like Pain d'épices but with an orange marmalade filling) turned into a mini-Pain d'épices. Just looking at the picture made my mouth water. I was sold, I had to try the recipe. I took a bet with Lili that I will be able to make the marmalade slip into the dough to become a filling like Nonette are supposed to be. Infortunatly, I lost my bet but I had the pain d'épices of my childhood in my kitchen and it was so worth the loss. I even told my mother about it. She was happy that I won't have to ask her every time:"how come I can't have the same result as yours" and every time she tells me:"c'est l'experience ma fille!" (it's the experience my daughter!).

In a bowl, mix the flour with the baking soda, salt and the ground spices. Set aside.In a saucepan, heat the butter with the orange juice, the cinnamon stick, the star anise and the orange rinds. Once the butter melts and the liquid reaches a boiling stage, remove the saucepan from the stove, discard the cinnamon stick and star anise and pour the liquid over the dry ingredients while whisking vigorously, until all gets blended. Let it cool a little bit, then spoon the batter into mini-muffin cups or standard muffin cups. Top each cup with the orange marmalade and press gently. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 12-14 min in mini-muffin cups and for 15-18 min in a standard muffin cups. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container and serve until the following day. Your patience will be rewarded.

These look lovely, really delicious. I also can't do without my afternoon snack. It's such a refreshing ritual, it leaves me feeling recharged and ready to finis the day. I love nibbling on a cookie or muffin or piece of cake with a hot cup of good tea. Now you have me thinking about the afternoon and it's only 8:45am!

Thanks Ari,I agree,nothing can beat a cup of tea with something sweet for a snack.Thanks for your nice message Brilynn. We share the same addiction for afternoon snack.Gattina, Thanks for stopping by, Anise is one of my favorite spices too. Let me know how it goes when you try it.Thank you very much Truffle. You are sweet.

Rose,guess what? I made the cakes! Oh my, they are delicious, frangrant and moist! The hardest part... you bet... wait until next day to eat :P How could I do it? I confess, I "stole" one to eat last night.Only one more note, I had to add one egg otherwise the batter looked a bit dry to me.Thanks Rose for this great recipe *kiss*

The other day I saw a TV show on Discovery Travel and Living and the host was in Dijon. Then she went to a woman's house and this woman made a pain d'épices with her daughter (the sweet girl seemed to be 10 or something). I loved it but they didn't give the amounts of ingredients.